Since you're here. How much do you think my fondling skills will crossover/apply to guitar. I'm a pretty good fondler(imo) but my guitar skills are somewhat subpar. Trying to correlate the two as best I can. Thanks in advance xxx
So glad I'm a multi instrumentalist. Every time you rant about guitarists I'm a singer, when you rant about singers I'm a bass player, when you rant about bass players I'm a drummer, and when you rant about drummers I'm a guitar player again.
The best advice I've ever learned as a metal guitar player is to PRACTICE to perfection! Don't just practice. Practice to perfection. My father is a world-class musician. He's in the Country Music Hall of Fame. He can play every instrument. His specialty, though, is the fiddle. When I was trying to learn how to play the fiddle, I had a cheap $100 instrument to learn on. It sounded and played like garbage. Then one day my dad picked up that same fiddle and started to riff on it. The POS fiddle suddenly sounded amazing! He normally plays fiddles that are worth $25,000 or more. I asked him why this POS sounded so much better when he played it compared to when I played it. He responded..."practice more". Lesson: A master's touch means more than any equipment you could ever buy. The "tone" is in the performance. Practice more!
Your story reminds me of the videos of famous musicians playing Hello Kitty instruments and sounding amazing. The majority of your tone is in your hands and skill, not the gear.
The point you make is very valid, and I certainly do agree, however if you claim that your father is a in the Hall of Fame without giving a name, I'll have to call BS on that.
@@Numnutz His name is Johnny, and I guess you didn’t know it, but he’s a fiddle player too. He plays a gold fiddle since he won that bet that one time.
@@RyansCustomShopandGearOutlet Damn, that's cool. But not as cool as that one guy I know who once won this competition where the winner would get a fiddle that was actually just a solid diamond that had naturally formed and had just the perfect shape. It sounds amazing when you play it. But the crazy thing was that it was a 4th grade spelling competition so I was really shocked when they handed out so many diamonds. I guess he just spelled words so well they gave him extra.
People can be both. Some are mostly collectors but some of us enjoy having many guitars and also enjoy playing all of them. Every guitar has a different personality. It’s just fun
@@onlyguitar6521 well by re-evaluate my life I meant that I’ve been collecting lately a lot more than playing guitar. I’m just trying to make sure now I’m doing both really. Need some more knowledge in the music theory department to enhance my playing
@@moonorbust7740 i see. I went through that last year, started collecting more than playing and had the same realization so I started learning theory like modes, etc, and I think that made me a much better player than I had been ever before. So I have now continued collecting guitars but I decided to play all of them rotating them. It’s doable and a lot of fun. I have a few videos in my channel btw.
@@moonorbust7740 I've felt that creative block lately too. Honestly? Looking up random chords, using a capo, or progressions, or scales, even just one or two completely changes the way you think. Also, try playing with and learning multiple techniques, and make challenges. Like how many techniques can you use in a solo, or how many chords can you fit into a progression, and then just let them fingers fly. Creativity and feel adds emotion and umph to it. But using the same emotions leads to a depression of the same chords and songs
Love it as always Glenn. There's a lot of total scams in the guitar industry, fueled mostly through clever marketing and by appealing to woo and superstition. There are a couple caveats I'd carve out though when it comes to spending more money on gear. If you're going from a cheap beginner instrument to a more expensive one, you're probably going to get noticeable improvements that make playing more enjoyable (at least up to a point, and obviously you should only be spending more if you actually *get* those improvements, not just because it has a brand name on it). I got back into playing a couple years ago after not playing for over 10 years, and used my big boy money to get a much more expensive guitar that absolutely blows my old high school one out of the water. The neck is more comfortable, the frets are way smoother, the damn thing stays in tune, and there's something to be said for the fact that the aesthetics of it just triggers that pleasure center in my caveman guitar player brain, and makes it more fun to pick up and play. Likewise for amps, if you're upgrading to something that you actually like the sound of better, it can make it more fun to play and make you feel more inclined to keep practicing. Upgrading your gear can be absolutely worthwhile, as long as you're not constantly chasing down 2% tone differences, and buying only the boutiquest of amps because the germanium transistors were handcrafted by blind monks in the Himalayas.
The amp one is very true :D i always used a Modeling amp for practice and when i was at my guitar teachers House he let me use his Marshall fullstack. The feeling of the Sound vibrating The Air in the room was just so crazy
There’s honesty then there’s brutal honesty. This is definitely something we probably don’t want to hear but it’s something we needed to hear. Cheers Glen.
Practice, scales, practice, theory, practice and learning to read music (and some practice) is how i advanced my playing more in weeks than years of faffing about with tabs and not putting the time in. I now practice a minimum of 1.5hours every day(except one night per week i socialise) with multi hour sessions on my free days. Lots of scales and metronome ;)
I never could get used to a metronome. I use pre-recorded drum beats instead, at different time signatures & tempos. I started to learn to read music in my late teens, but for some reason just stopped... Might not work for everyone, but I just play whatever sounds good to me. (A few of my favorite guitar players for example, Greg Ginn, East Bay Ray, Subhumans UK, & I learned playing along with their records.) 😂
Brilliant!! . I started playing in 68, was a session player for 30 years. Only took two guitar's to a session because that's all I had. Didn't work out too bad 😁. Dopamine hungry. What a great quote. Great stuff Glenn. Best wishes from the other side of the pond
Hi, guitarist here. This video is so accurate, especially between opinions and Excalibur syndrome. I used to have a JS 32 Jackson Kelly that I loved more than all of my other instruments but ended up having to sell to make rent because my manager lied to me about having pto for a paid vacation, and lost a full weeks pay right as rent was due. I still yearn for another Kelly one day, but the whole thing made me a Jackson fan boy and I now currently play an 8 string multiscale Soloist. I still want another Kelly but the rest of my instruments wouldn't collect dust if I got it but the play time for the others would be greatly reduced. Also on the topic of opinions are the solid state vs Tube arguments because one of my buddies likes to harp on me for using amp sims while he plays away on his Marshall. Space is a big reason for me at the moment but I still prefer going this route because it works for me but I wouldn't shoot anyone down for what works for them. Anyway, love the content as always. Fuck you Glen, I hope you're taking care. :)
I sold a 90s Kelly dot inlay Bolt-on I recorded my first full length album with. It was boring and black but added chunk my Ibanez S series custom lacked and was being repaired due to skinhead drama(Metalcore scene in the 90s.... ugh) I wish I still had it even if it wasn't great. My new 2021 Kelly KEXQ green quilted maple top is however! I want to sell a few other guitars and get 2 more Kellys now. A Silverburst and orangeburst
I don't think anyone disputes that tube amps are going to sound different than solid state amps. He's talking about people who change out their tubes thinking it's going to change their sound. But those tubes are all manufactured at the same place now because very few places still make tubes. So it's not going to do much of anything. When you say "amp sims" are you talking about virtual amps in a DAW or like an amp that models other amps or like a stomp box you plug your guitar into? That can mean a number of different things all of which vary in quality quite a bit. They are getting pretty good at it from what I understand but that doesn't mean they're going to replace a nice Marshal amp. It all depends on what you're doing. Playing live? Playing live in a garage? Playing on Twitch. Recording. etc.
"... and broke when they fell over" I remember as a kid, one of my buddies started working at 11 years old to start saving up for a Les Paul. He finally saved enough (~$2700) when he was 14 and ordered it. First time he plays it, he sets it on a guitar stand onstage. Stand falls over. Head snaps off.
Had a friend around '00, during a pause at a tiny gig, an audience member knocks his expensive Les Paul over (by accident) and it breaks in two. For years I thought he was unlucky, until I had heard it enough times: "Gibsons break in two when they hit the floor". I have an old SG and I'm supposed to feel lucky because the crack on the back of the neck isn't very big. Only big enough to break the original Truss Rod Cover. Both these guitars had/ have Gibsons volute.
I have a Gibson Sonex. It got dropped once, but the headstock didn't snap. Instead, the neck actually split lengthwise. I got it repaired, but you can definitely see where it split. Fortunately, it's been rock solid ever since (something like 30 years since it happened).
I have a Schecter Synster Custom S with the Sustainiac pickup and the carbon fiber reinforced neck, I've had it fall over or get knocked over 3 or 4 times now and there's no damage anywhere on the guitar. It still looks and plays perfect. I love the ebony fingerboard that's on it.
@@darksu6947 Funny you mention it, I have the Schecter Avenger in the same shape, and it had a trip to the floor and to my surprise I can't find any scratches or anything. Like it never happened.
A highschool friend of mine spent roughly €3000 on this really nice silver trumpet, first performance he tripped on the stairs and completely crushed the bell.
Guitarists want instruments that make them feel a million dollars. In real life, guitarists look like bums, staring at the floor, going weedly weedly on a piece of wood... But in a guitarist's mind, they're slaying demons with their pentatonic wizardry, so of course a pointy battle axe is what they need.
VARIAC: IT DOES WORK, because it reduces the high voltage supply to the valves, reducing the headroom, making for an earlier onset of distortion at a lower volume level. It's too CRUDE, as it also reduces the voltage to the valve HEATERS (Which will eventually not heat the valves enough to operate). The amp modification "POWER SCALING" is a better approach.
@@pilgrim9392 you should check out Rick Beatos video where they experiment with the variac and “Runnin’ with the Devil” you can hear noticeable sag and slight differences in the high end at points.
Guilty. I spent my whole life spending, trading stuff, selling good guitars, believing the tube myth’s. I simply quitted after 20 years. I spent two years without playing. I bought a couple of acoustic, and now I play and learn to work with what I have. Never been happier!
Glen thank you so much for always brightening my day up, this has been my favorite video so far, as guitarists you are 100% on the dot. Thank Scorpio I have learned from you not to waste my cash on crap I don't need or have an urge to buy anymore. Over the years of watching your channel you have taught me so much about the shady music business and how they can and will sucker us into spending, spending, spending until our cards are maxed. I've watched a lot of your videos and you single handedly showed me there are good folk out to help the average consumer, I am so happy I found your channel sir I still have my very first guitar and its "the one" still to this day just an average older Yamaha EG 112C so basic an instrument but it gets the job done still to this day. P.S. I also have an old Hondo guitar that I can't find any information on all I know is it was my ex-girlfriend's uncle's guitar when he learned back in the seventies or early eighties, I'm not sure. would you know anything about that brand of guitars? any info would be appreciated Glen again thank you so much for being the best on RU-vid you motivate me to actually play, learn and experience the instrument the way it should be done with passion.
I have one good guitar, mostly because I don’t have the money before, but oh man it is a great guitar. It’s a Schecter Hellraiser, a gibson style v with a Floyd rose and emg pickups that can separately switch between single and double coil pickups. 24 frets. It’s absolutely amazing, and can do almost any style. I also got it for $750 used, it’s a lefty
"Guitarists have addictive personalities" [Me who smokes cigarettes, drinks caffeine laced beverages, smokes weed, had a painkiller addiction 12 years ago] you're crazy, what do you mean "addictive personalities", bro. I'm perfectly fine lol
@@darksu6947 nah, just stopped. Wasn't fun. Itchy all the time, easily frustrated, didn't eat at all those first 3 days. It was a classic case of "they were in the house, and the one prescribed them didn't actually need them." It was at the hight of doctors just shoving these things out like candy. And when the injury was actually taken care of, they stopped being in the house, so i really had no choice in the matter lol
@@xamislimelight8965 I remember when doctors used to hand them out and barely ask questions. I went from snorting percoset, to shooting morphine and oc's. Shooting morphine makes you feel like you're catching fire from the inside. To be honest with you, I still miss that feeling. After my daughter was born I decided it would probably be better if I didn't end up dead from an overdose. So one day not long after she was born I started taking suboxone and I haven't touched any opiates since that day. My daughter is 13 now. I can honestly say that being a dad isn't always easy, but it's the best job in the world.
@@darksu6947 I had a friend (i say "had" but he ain't dead or anything, just moved out of state) who was on that stuff. It looked like a breath strip, but was orange. Looked about as much fun as the pills i was popping.. which, I'll admit, wasn't after a while. First few months, sure. But then it became a chore. A chore that was tearing me apart on the inside. Literally, i have permanent stomach lining damage from them..
@@xamislimelight8965 I'm glad you managed to stop before things got any worse. It was nice talking to you dude. I hope you have a wonderful day homefry.
Cars, art, many items, valuables have a collector's market, that buys and sells appreciating items. Musical instruments have a collector's market also. Some guitars like gibson's, appreciate in value and there's a market for them. Too bad other instruments don't appreciate like a gibson.
I can help by explaining it the way it was explained to me. 1959: High school kid playing Sears guitar wants a Les Paul. He works part time at McDonald's or a gas station making about $20 a week. He goes past the window of the music store on the way home every day and stops to drool over the beautiful sunbusrt Les Paul, but It costs so much, even in 1959 dollars that it's completely out of reach. 1961: Kid goes off to college to "be somebody" and "get somewhere in life" Guitar dream goes out the window in favor of becoming a "respectable citizen". Soon marriage, family, and bills have buried the guitar dream at the center of the earth. Many decades pass. 1995: kids grown, mortgage paid off, retirement coming soon, our friend begins to rekindle the lost guitar dream of his youth. He still wants the '59 Les Paul, so he goes to an auction and gets into a bidding war with 5 other boomers who are also recapturing their lost youth by owning something they coveted and drooled over in those days. That Les Paul jumps in price to over 100 grand in the course of less than 30 minutes. The guy who gets it brings it home, discovers he has no ability for playing it and auctions it off to another frustrated sell out boomer, and the whole process starts all over again. This is why '59 Les Pauls go for half a million bucks. There's no way on earth that they could ever be intrinsically worth that much, no matter how nice they are.
Guit-ollecotor here. Yes, we should all practice more and buy less. But, so long as you buy low and don't spend every penny or every waking minute looking this can be fun and actually inspire you to play. I buy "deals" once in a while repair them, play them and usually pass them on. Amps, guitar, bass, keyboards, etc. Since I repair them (tech by trade) it keeps them out of the landfill, makes a little coin and gives the next person a good deal. Key is moderation. Keep em coming Crazy Uncle Glen!
I was a poor musician I made do with what I had. I never bought gear that wasn't needed. I made my Peavey solid state supreme 100w head sound pretty damn good
Funny in the day people snickered. Had a Sun SS. Seen the prices on the used market ?!?! 😄 We got the last laugh. Still amazing myself at home with my Tele and Spark amp.
Thanks Glenn this had me crying with laughter I'm a long time guitarist in my 60s who plays Harley Bentons and Hagstroms as well as the stuff I build myself so I'm qualified to laugh at myself and anyone else with a delicate ego many thanks fellow music nerd
God, you are so right about the Excalibur syndrome thing. One of the biggest annoyances I have about RU-vid guitar players is their constant "I finally found my dream guitar" horseshit. Their "dream guitar" never looks even remotely different from anything else they have. And a couple years down the line when that "I finally found the one" video is made again, it still doesn't look or sound any different. What guitar players see in these instruments that I don't will forever mystify me.
The RU-vid guys are full of shit. Most of the time they are just trying to send you to a sponsor. There are a relatively few that push out good content, but even then, you have to make sure you are on the lookout for the pitch. Their main objective is to get the views and interactions. When it comes to "vintage" guitars, the only people who buy those are already famous musicians, rich collectors, and RU-vidrs so that they can feature it on their channel.
@@travisspaulding2222 In the case of the famous musicians buying vintage guitars, a lot of them bought them brand new at the time of the release of said guitar.
@@liamfitzdrums I'm not talking about 90 year old musicians. I'm talking about guys like Kirk Hammett and Slash, who I believe both own 59 Les Pauls. They didn't buy those brand new. CC Deville is the same way. I think he has hundreds of guitars.
Yep, they are just salesmen, trying to sell us the newest version of whatever we probably already own. Only a few are worth watching, because they also are entertaining in some way.
I'm really glad I grew out of "Excalibur Syndrome" around the time I graduated high school. These days, I'm more interested in if a piece of gear is reliable, has some feature that I could use in fun creative ways, or (the best) a combination of the two. I do like when I can aesthetically appreciate an instrument, but I vastly prefer function over form. If I hadn't managed to grow out of that mindset, I'd be in way more debt than I currently am.
Glenn I love your video and you but man I’m really missing the experimental videos. Can we please get some soon? I know these type of videos are quick cash grabs with click bait titles (no I’m not knocking you, you gotta make a living) but you were the one guy who made the video everyone wanted to see! Don’t forget why you got those Subaru era to begin with man! Love you and fuck off 🤙🏻
As a guitarist whose played roughly a thousand gigs, it’s true about the gear craze. After about a thousand bucks guitars and amps don’t really get much better. Spend about a thousand on a guitar, a thousand on an amp, get a couple pedals and that’s good enough to be “pro” gear wise. After that its your ear, practice, talent, showmen skill, social skills, and hustle.
I always thought the use of the variac by EVH was as a form of attenuator, allowing him to run the b*ll*cks off the amp, getting its best tone, but at usable volumes. Fun video.
In my opinion the constant buying and selling of gear just shows that people don’t do proper research before purchasing. You hit the nail on the head, the endless consumerism just shows how little people value their own money
Hell Glen, i was listening to this, knowing full well you were talking about guitars... Yet, it is all the same within the field of photography. Latest and greatest gear that will perfect your photography. The big camera with the shinny name plate that tells everyone YOU are a professional. The cameras, sensors, or lenses that perfect each style of photography YOU HAVE to have to do that type of photo. The idea that vintage film bodies, such as Hasselblad, are going to somehow make you a better photographer. Shooting film can improve your photographic ability, but so can practicing more. This brings me to the damned MacGuffin, in cameras... right now.. It's color science. Every sensor is going to pick up colors differently, and all the software put into the camera to capture the image is going to change the look....Right? RIGHT?!. In a world of one click post processing, or even the most simple understanding of color grading means even if its true, it doesn't matter, you, the artist take control of it all, and manipulate the image to your liking, not the cameras. The camera... Is just a tool. As far as snake oil, there are so... SO many useless photography products, gimmicks and utterly useless hunks of garbage out there, even if the tool you need does exist, good luck finding it in the sea of cheap plastic, and even still... It will not improve your photography the same way as just picking up your camera and experimenting. Onto addicts... HAH!! Gear Acquisition Syndrome, something I had to get over very quickly as I started my photography business. I don't need the latest and greatest camera, mine still works fine, I don't need EVERY lens, I bought the ones I needed for the job, and if I don't have it? I can always rent it. Photography is insanely expensive, stop wasting your money on crap you're never going to use! Damnit Glen, I was having a good morning. LOL!
On Vintage - There is also the old guitar players who are looking to buy something they had when they were younger, but with fewer of them available and well into their disposable income days, they go buy an old amp, guitar, etc. It turns that "I had" back to "I have" to help them remember the "old days". This drives up prices also. "Vintage" cars and motorcycles also suffer from this. Who else would pay a tone of money for a mid 80's Chevy Cavalier.
In the late 90s early 2000s, Gibson did a couple of Jimmy Page signature models. At the end of the article it said they would go for 10k USD each, and that collectors had already preordered the entire run. It was then that i realized that guitars were no longer meant to be played but collected.
The thing I never understood in the vintage guitar craziness that the ones that were actually used are quite disgusting. Sure their owner says that "they have the 'mojo' (another buzzword in the bullshit-factory) but in the reallity it's just a discolored, beat-up chunk of wood, the cracks of the remaining lacquer is filled with decadce old who-knows-what-kind-of gunk, all hardwares are oxidized by various type of human DNA. Words like "Bacterial infection" or "rampant diarhea" describes this phenomenon better than 'mojo'. (Sure, rampant diarhea also can have a certain mojo)
yep , and now they even make fake vintage guitars , the call them relics and they are made by the so called custom shops of fender and gibson and they sell them for insane prices , the managers at fender and gibson must be having a great time with al those idiots who fall into there marketing- branding BS .
@@antoonhermans8953 o yeah, relicing is a great business these days. Btw the craftmanship involved is something to be acknowledged - im pretty sure that they put a lot of workhours to beat up the guitar authentically (like restaurators in museums). But still - does it have any sense? That's a different question :) Gibson also sells reliced guitar cases for 600 EUR/USD I just simply can't imagine why anyone would pay for that...
Rick Beato has a video on recreating the Brown Sound with Rhett Shull where they took a handwired Plexi and gradually turned the voltage down using a variac while playing "Running With The Devil". The end result is a noticeable amount of power amp distortion, but it's rather subtle and likely wouldn't be heard by the average listener.
Reamp and null test. As much as I love Rick, he and Rhett have more of a “vintage” mindset. Take Dan Worrall - he considers mixing an art, but still likes to poke around the plugins to see exactly what they do
The factor Rick left out was that varying the voltage doesn't do much unless you set the bias of the amp to the voltage level you're using. Pete Thorn and Dave Friedman have a great video on this. Take care
@@shredhed572 yeah again, Pete has some less-than-scientific takes on “tone”. The strat neck pickup being “under a harmonic node”. Ofc changing the pickup location changes the tone, but that specific node of the open string 4th harmonic has nothing to do with it
No one ever mentions how gullible guitar players are when it comes to guitar pedals,especially Boss. I’ve heard people claim that the age, country of production, or even something as ridiculous as what kind of pcb. Especially my fellow chainsaw HM2 nerds.
And the OD-1, long chip vs short chip...and the DS-1 with the silver screw vs black screw, and, and, and, and through hole component vs surface mount....and 4558 chip vs some other chip... and analog vs digital... and true bypass vs buffered bypass... And the list goes on and on and on. And don't even get started with Ibanez pedals, especially the tube screamers...
I'm happy to believe unlisted changes in parts or circuit design can have a difference in tone, but I'm not going to believe any specific claims about say pedals from X production year vs Y production year, unless they can back it up.
See, that could never happen to us bassists! Playing with two hands is already keeping our brain fully occupied, there's no way we could spare a brain cell to kick a pedal!
Videos like this is exactly why I like Glenn! I can proudly say that I was never in a wagon of gear chasers and I've never chased the gear to "sound like someone". It was tempting to buy the gear just like Dimebag, but I've never done it. From my experience this is what you should look for when chasing a guitar (tone): 1) If guitar neck feels good to play and it suits your hand, 2) Good pickups, 3) Good amp. This is the base of your tone, but knowledge and practice is going to make wonders for you!
It's not only guitar players that fall for things like vintage & snake oil. I have a friend that goes on Gearspace for "pro" opinions and confirmation bias on gear. He's spent 50k, easily, on "vintage" and "high-end" gear, converters, pre-amps, etc. - Many purchases are straight from forum members pedaling the gear. He'll take a complete stranger's opinion as gospel, and let that guide him. Because he thinks that better gear will make his music and mixes sound better. It hasn't, but he refuses to believe that the problem is his ears or skills.
@@SpectreSoundStudios - The room is good, and appropriately treated. That's not the issue. It really is just "Excalibur Syndrome", at this point. He keeps buying/selling gear, chasing the dragon. He does electronic music. All hard and soft synths, samples/drum machines. Only thing recorded with a mic, is vocals.
@@JohnSmith-oe4bw I'd love a nice rhodes piano, or a Yamaha DX7 , or Hammond organ; I guess you could sample all of these, and the Nord keyboards have pretty good representations, I guess stuff like the rhodes and the moog might be affected by temperature or tape distortion, that might be cool.
I can confirm first hand that most of those points apply to people into synths. Maybe it's even worse, because we often complain about "limitations" (for example: way too limited sample memory on new gear for nowadays standards, as if computer technology was stuck in the 80ies) but we still buy those pieces of new gear. 😅 By the way, I'm also guilty of spending too much time looking for gear (especially synths - I'm not a guitar player) instead of just making music. It's a really bad thing when you're both into technology and synths at the same time.
The only way to find Excalibur is to firstly examine what you want your rig to sound like, secondly how you want your instrument to feel, thirdly how you want it to look and finally the endless search of articles, forums, RU-vid and Facebook groups begins, trying to find out what you ACTUALLY need to get that perfect sound. While doing this, you of course need to practice until your fingers bleeding, because the right specs and/or equipment will only get you so far. Example: my favourite bass tones are Lemmy Kilmister's Duff Mckagan's and Cliff Burton's, my favourite playing style is a blend of Cliff Burton's and Jaco Pastorius' and my favourite bass is a Fender Jazz bass. Studying their styles and gear and mixing that with my personal preferences will get me *drumroll please* Excalibur! It's taken me years and I still haven't reached my goal, but I'm on the right track there
Thank you for that last mention of the "learn to burn on lead guitar without learning scales" bs! As a pro guitarist who's done more than my share of practicing and paid handsomely for it via a music education and through experience with bands, I've also made my living as a guitar and music teacher for over a decade now. This bs is only for the truly stupid who have 0 work ethic and honestly think you can get good without learning something essential to getting to a certain level of ability. Of course I see this in students who don't practice and still have to be shown how to fret a D or G chord after months of lessons, because they don't take it even a little bit seriously. Anyway, love your blunt force trauma brutal honesty! Thank you much sir. 🤘🤘💥
Love it! A couple weeks ago during work I brought up an alternative schedule for one of the co-workers who is out of state and still working. Time zones can be killer, especially when you're expected to work regular business hours. Anyways, we were chatting with our manager about the pitched schedule, it got a lot of attention, then out of the blue the manager asks me about guitars. What made it hilarious was one of my co-workers (affected most by the schedule), followed up with a "Panic Button" gif then a "Guitar" gif. :D Manager tried to use my addiction to divert :P
if i recall correctly, hendrix was also notorious for selling his guitars for drugs hours before a gig, leaving a poor roadie to scramble around the city to desperately find a strat lying around and restring it to lefty in time for the show.
But that said, Hendrix himself said (when asked why does he play upside down guitars) "Because they're made better". As a Lefty, I can tell you that while my 78' strat plays and sounds great, the build has a sorts of inperfections but honestly, I like the fuck ups. Gives the guitar **GASP** more character.
Don't think Jimi had them restrung but instead played upside down. I remember a BB King interview where he spoke of his short time playing with Jimi as he asked why not switch strings around.
@@CutterAz He definitely had them restrung as lefty, watch the footage of him playing at Woodstock. Eric Gales, on the other hand, plays lefty with his guitar strung right handed.
@@bradleyard4195 I have gone back to see photos & video and I was wrong. However I did rewatch the BB King interview and I suspect that time was from his early playing days in which Jimi sat in on a set with him only once. BB like most the bluesmen wasn't as impressed with his playing style or shyness.
Imposter syndrome is definitely a thing. That said, I'm far from "fashionable" when it comes to gear. I play through a couple of Monoprice tube combos with a few effects pedals. I have a 1981 Gibson Sonex I got way back in 1991 when I was a freshman in high school. I have a 1966-ish Harmony Bobkat someone I know was literally throwing away. I have an Ibanez that I picked up for, like, $60 because it was a basket case and I was willing to put the work into to fix. I have a Harley Benton CST-24T that is an amazing guitar. I play because I thoroughly enjoy it. I gave up on trying to be "cool" with my gear choices years ago, and don't really care about being "trendy". New gear isn't going to make me a better musician, practice and hard work will.
It is true. I'm metal AF and I still ended up buying my first strat in a standard SSS setup the other day despite just shelling out 2k on a new E-II 7 months ago because.... i dunno, clean tones i guess lol.... It might have taken 20 years, but Fender still got me 😔...
I feel this. I’ve owned a lot of ESP guitars and just guitars suited towards metal in general, but I still just love the feel and sound of a Strat, and a Gibson LP. Fat cleans ftw
As much as I don't want to admit it, this hit home on several points. I've been a collector forever; baseball cards were my crack when I was little. When I seriously started on guitar (age 7-ish), my collector impulses went there too. I needed all the cool guitars that my inspirations played. I needed every kind of pick or pedal or try every brand/size of strings and so on. I am the one who buys all of the little do-dads in the back of guitar magazines (it's how I bought my 1st Klon, when Bill was selling them via small ads). I subscribe to every guitar-related magazine that has existed. The giant Sweetwater catalog is my bible. BUT. I also adhere to a strict practice regimen; I own a high-security warehouse that is like our band HQ, where we jam together a few times a week when we can (y'know, life get in the way sometimes). We play shows when time permits. I'm OK falling into some of those tropes & stereotypes, it's my hobby & it makes me very happy. I see too many miserable people that don't have a release in their life like music. So, YES, I am a happy 'gullible moron'.
Beato recently interviewed a guy who talked about plugging into numerous Marshall amps of the same model until he found the right tone. All I could think is there's no way Marshall, let alone anyone else could have so much inconsistency with the same components in the same circuit that you could actually hear it, especially in a mix
That whole princess and the pea thing is so present with idiot guitarists lol Man, impress me with relative or perfect pitch- shut up about your this Marshall sounds so better than the other 3 I tried!! Lol
True. Also - when I bought my amp, I, of course, tested it in the store. I specifically asked for the same guitar I had at home - a relatively cheap Eko - my first electric guitar. I plugged it into various amps, then I chose the one I liked the most in my price range, I bought it, I brought it home, I plugged it in... And it sounded completely different, although it was miles ahead of the small practice amp I'd used before. It didn't even sound worse than it did in the store, it was just different. Apparently, the acoustic properties of the room you're playing in matter. Who'd've thunk? :) The point is - your tone depends to a huge extent on things that are beyond your control, so wasting time and energy on tone chasing is often pointless. Whatever amp you buy, in a different room it will sound different. Plug it into a different cabinet speaker and it will sound different. Turn the volume all the way up and it will sound different.
Marshalls are dreadfully inconsistent . Especially Superlead models from the 60's and 70's.They weren't the same parts consistently as they used what was available at the time. So many different values across parts even in the same circuit design yield wildly different results. It doesn't take "golden ears" to hear it at all.
When Mick Ronson was doing one of his first shows with David Bowie he had to borrow a guitar from someone. That someone was a little appaled at Ronson's reckless abandon when playing (fearing he would scratch the guitar and whatnot) so he went to him after the show to tell him that he should've been more careful with his special guitar. Ronson replied that it was just a piece of wood with six strings attached. We need to be a little more like Ronson I think.
For everyone that has been all butthurt about bass players and drummers being "unfairly" criticized on this channel, this video is for you lol we're all musicians and we're all just as bad as each other for G.A.S. We all like shiny things lol
Cannot agree more with you Glen; especially about the "used instruments" market. I was loking for a polyphonic Yamaha CS-80 built between 1976-1980 and the price of that gear has just sky rocketed. I remember when it was sold new at about 5,000.00 Euros (about 1,000,000 Italian Liras at the time)...I just checked today and the lesser price is 47,000 euros (delivery included, at least!)🙈🙈🙈
I still love gear and consider myself a recovering gear addict and I'm almost fifty. I was at my worst in my teenage years in guitar crazy L.A. (not surprising) but grew out of it when I realized the only thing that could make me a better player was my own willpower, and it worked. I became picky about gear. I wouldn't get anything I didn't actually need. I don't worry too much about amps as I either use a good multi-fx or a decent combo, but I don't buy pedals and amps all the time. If I want to check out a new pedal or amp I see if my local shops have them on hand so I can try them. Most of the time I'm underwhelmed about the hot new thing. The guitar world is full of gimmicky and equipment manufacturers know how to push their good. At the moment I have just one guitar, a Schecter I bought for $250 and loaded with a DiMarzio Super Distortion and Air Norton I had sitting on the shelf over my workbench. It plays and sounds great, especially through the amps and pedals I already have. Will I be getting another guitar? Yeah, probably just for backup, but it's gonna be another very affordable, practical guitar with a fixed bridge, and if I don't like the stock pups I have a bunch of DiMarzio sets I can just pop in and there I go. Most of my time dealing with the subject of guitar I'm actually playing the thing, making music, getting better, not buying more and better gear that I'll went to sell when something shiny and flashy comes down the road in two days. Just remember, whatever preferences you have about guitars (I have mine) your amp is the single biggest factor in your tone next to your own playing ability, next to the magic of a studio mixing board and mics or PA system for gigs.
@@SpectreSoundStudios One could claim that using good speakers is as important, since not every amp sounds the same trough the same speaker when the guitar is plugged straight into it. Even the same valve amp can sound different with the same speaker in variable environments, probably not so much in a studio with controlled climate though? As for the whole V30 debate, good idea to try other speakers, but bad idea if everyone goes for your suggestion making those speakers become the new “V30’s” over time 😂
Guitarists also read tone with their eyes instead of their ears. I don't even read spec sheets anymore. I picked up a PRS SE custom 24 and I love it. I thought I'd have to rip out the low output pickups but my ears have spoken and they're honestly perfect. It stays in tune, and does everything I could need it to do.
I don't know, I think that if an instrument makes a player feel much more confident or comfortable, then it was probably worth the price. Is a good deal of that psychological barriers? Perhaps, but for some people a Les Paul custom is cheaper than therapy. Oh, and I love vintage gear, because nothing really tickles me like playing death metal - or worse *grindcore* - on a guitar made in the 50s for jazz. I think seeing all the big-on-tradition guitarists' heads explode is well worth the price of a vintage piece.
@@concernedcitizen6676 Yeah it seems everyone wants all the metal guys to play an Ibanez. Well, you know, I feel more comfortable playing a Gretsch Double Anniversary.
@@SpectreSoundStudios makes me think of that Springsteen song "57 channels and nothing on". Only here it's 57 guitars and the guitarist still isn't doing anything.
I'd love to hear Glen's take on aftermarket guitar pickups. To me, that is one of the biggest MacGuffins in the musical equipment business. Yes, there's a difference between Seth Lover and X2N pickups, but many guitarists are quick to drop $300 on new pickups that are near copies of the ones they're replacing when they could have just adjusted the pickup or pole piece height, or heaven forbid, use the knobs on their guitar and amp.
A big part of creating music is feeling - so how a player feels about an item (regardless of any real difference it makes) could change what they create with it. They like the new toy -> they play different because they're happy in the moment instead of thinking about the next piece of gear to buy.. Maybe that's the real magic of the McGuffin. Thank you helping to keep music fun.
Is it all about keeping a revolving door of buying new guitars and not actually focusing on your playing? Is playing guitar about spending $3k for an instrument with a subpar paint job then frowning on people who think that doesn't make sense? Is it about taking out a second mortgage for NOS tubes that magically give your $500 tube amp a new EQ curve? Maybe people should focus on learning their instrument and working on learning songs and writing them too. Huh... Wait a minute... Sounds a lot like what Glen is screaming about.
Imposter syndrome really is a big thing. Yes, my equipment has a SMALL Effect on what I can do, but I KNOW I need to learn and practice more. I've performed a few gigs and mostly gotten praise, but it honestly feels fake or simply social protocol. I currently SUCK at EVERY instrument I play and while I want nothing more than to practice and see notable improvement, yet I feel stuck in the competent musical babbling stage. And I can't tell if others actually think I'm ANY good or if their just bullshitting to "Avoid hurting my feelings" as such I can't tell if I'm actually a Guitarist or just a guy who likes to play a guitar, and there's a BIG difference. Learning impairments make improvement from my current level feel like an insurmountable wall and all the chipping away I do feels like I'm getting nowhere. This obviously does NOT mean I intend to quit or slow down. But I wish there was more access to musical knowledge structured in a logical way that makes sense, NOT held behind paywalls. Yes there are plenty of free sheet music sites, but without a musical education GOOD LUCK (Yes its possible to teach yourself but EVERYONE has a different learning style and requirements) And as far as TAB goes 99% of Free tab is either horribly formatted or notated or just plain WRONG! Add in any learning issues and basically Get fucked. As far as Excalibur Syndrome, Your right but I have multiple guitars, some technically FAR Superior to others based on specs, build quality, component choice ect, but my RG 370Xz is just Home to me, IT IS "The One" and despite in EVERY measurable way being inferior to my "Best" RG Premium - RG 721FM-BIF still makes me play WAY better than on any other guitar for lead work. Not to say the others are bad or "Unworthy" but the RG 370DXz just has something that makes me play differently. Each Axe has its role and their all great.
I really underdtand your point, but of course misicians will only teach for money. We have to eat too brother :D But come on. Like before the Internet people had it waaaaaaaay worse. Just use what you have and you will make great progress with discipline
Accurate. As a guitar player, most of us have two left feet planted firmly in the 1950s. Every other industry has constantly pushed for improvement and these elmer fudds and blues lawyers are trying to keep us stuck in the past because of their flawed, nonsensical perception that it’s somehow “better” that way
I'm definitely not a smart guitar player, but for me, buying different guitars is buying a collection of sounds. The 335, Strat, Gretsch, Tele and modified LP all do their own thing with a different sound, feel and capabilities. Also, I'll double-track rhythm parts with the same amp, but two different guitars, like the Strat & 335, which make a nice sound together, IMO. Sure, I could probably make good recordings with one guitar, but that wouldn't cost as much.
The only time that buying a new guitar has helped me play better was when I switched to a shorter scale length to accommodate for my short fingers physically not being able to fret certain chords without it. That's the only reason I can think of for the case of "buying a more expensive guitar will make you sound better" but it was also only $350 sooooo....
I definitely improved after getting a newer guitar than my 94 epiphone lp. Probably because I got a gretsch that Is beatiful and an absolute delight to play. The lp is nice, but still just not as nice for me.
i mean the only time you'd really benefit from having a more expensive guitar is if your old guitar was just shit or its something you really wanted. did i need to drop the cash on a strandberg? no. but i sure do love mine and its cured my GAS for a long while now
@@joshuaporterfield6774 the new affordable Gretsch play nice and are easy to play every single one I’ve picked up from 300 to 3000 have felt really nice. Today’s 300 dollar Gretsch > 90s 250 dollar epiphone and its not even close.
maybe you can do a vid about eco punk practices I've been reading about The Minuemen they had it down to a science. "The group's early recordings were recorded as "econo" (Pedro slang for inexpensive, short for "economical") as possible - the group would book studio time after midnight at cut rates, tech their own shows, practice the songs before going into the studio, record on less-expensive used tape, and record the songs in the order they intended to have them on the record rather than waste time editing the master tape during the sequencing phase. In fact, contrary to standard practice even in indie rock, Minutemen sometimes saw records as a way to promote their tours, not the other way around. Minutemen toured frequently, but usually for only a few weeks at a time - they all held down day jobs. Their "econo" practices helped ensure that their tours were generally profitable." -wikipedia
Case in point: When it was found out that Stevie Ray Vaughan was using extra heavy strings with a .013 on the high E everybody thought that the better tone came out of using heavy strings. Never mind that SRV himself was using Super Glue on the tips of his fingers because he had already ripped his calluses apart. I recently saw a video by Mason from Vertex Effects where he reveals a piece of equipment that Stevie used that it was basically never, ever talked about and it was a rackmounted chorus unit that he would have connected after his amps and into the mixing board of whatever venue he was playing at. THAT was the TONE, NOT the STRING GAUGES. Some guitarists like James Hetfield like the heavier gauges especially on the lower strings because they add tension and therefore stability; the guitar is able to hold its tuning better under aggressive playing, but as far as tone is concerned string gauge has no effect at all.
@@concernedcitizen6676 Whether a studio mastered album or live I very much doubt your ears can tell the difference. What you're doing is something called cognitive bias. It's when you're so attached to an idea no matter how illogical it is you twist things around to fit your way of looking at things. If you feel there's a difference do like Glenn says-go grab some sensitive measuring equipment and show us. The fact is your entire statement is heavily flawed in that the equipment and methods used to analyze frequencies has been shown to be accurate to a high degree. There's no way your ear is going to seriously beat a highly tuned piece of scientific equipment. Again-cognitive bias. Your ears and your brain aren't an accurate, objective gauge of anything.
Love the anger!! You mentioned "Vintage" being a term to determine a second hand guitar's resale value. Ironically, my guitarist has Vintage Les Paul Copy, has had it for years. But came across a "vintage" Gibson Les Paul at a decent price, ended up selling it on for profit and keeping the Vintage LP copy because it played and sounded identical (his words not mine) Go figure.
One of the other myths around Eddie's tone is that it's called the Brown Sound. That was never used by him to describe his guitar sound. The Brown Sound was originally used by, Eddie I think, but it may have been Alex himself, in an old interview to describe Alex's SNARE DRUM. NOT Eddie's guitar sound. They said when he hit it, it sounded like hitting a hollow log....hence the Brown Sound. Moron guitarists co-opted this bit of information somewhere along the line and applied it to his guitar tone.
Look it up, you're close. It was Eddie (I had the guitar rag issue he said it) where he said (paraphrasing) he *wanted* his guitar to have a brown sound, like how he described the sound of Alex's snare.
@@MoreMeRecording Sorry...that's not correct either. Since anything even suggesting a link gets deleted....put this into that thing that let's you find information on the internet... the brown sound was used for alex's snare not eddie's guitar sound First one. Billboard magazine. His words. He never applied it to his tone or tone he wanted. But by all means if you can provide proof with a link.
@@MoreMeRecording “That’s funny, because people took that whole ‘brown sound’ thing totally out of context,” he said. “I was never talking about my guitar tone. I was talking about Alex’s snare drum. I’ve always thought Alex’s snare drum sounds like he’s beating on a log. It’s very organic. So it wasn’t my brown sound. It was Alex’s.” “It happened years ago. People would ask me about his drumming, and the only way I could explain it was that it had a very brown sound,” Van Halen noted. “I’m glad you brought this up, actually, so people can finally understand what I was talking about.”
Although, EVH did talk about changing the voltage of the amp using the Variac, actually, EVH said the resulting tone sounded amazing afterwards. There's a video where he says that.
"Is there ANY group of consumers more susceptible to the "shiny new toy" syndrome that guitar players?" Of course there are. They're known as Apple fans ;-)
Ultimately the experience the player has while playing music is why a vast selection of guitars exist. If what you are proposing were to be true everyone would be playing an economical composite guitar with active pickups through a laptop. The truth is “feel” actually has influence on what a guitarist will play, for example, try playing guitar with some tape over each fingertip, there little to no quantifiable difference sonically, but it certainly it won’t bring out the best in the player.
I remember Death Metal bands loving headless, like Death- Lack of Comprehension and I think a member of Exodus had one. They were big when I started playing. Honestly, Grunge kinda set back the guitar innovations industry back about 20 years. Everyone wanted junk or old stuff
@@concernedcitizen6676 I thought the same too, until I played one. The graphite neck is insanely stable, the bridge design is easy to set up and very convenient for setups and fast string changes on the go, It's always in tune, and one of things I like from having a bit of shoulder and back pain nerve damage It is extremely light but doesn't sacrifice tone or resonance. I still love my Jackson's and Caparison but the Steinberger still surprises me how extremely comfortable it is to play.
My understanding of the use of a Variac is that you can in some cases decrease or increase headroom by reducing or increasing the voltage on the plate. While I don't have anything to show on the matter, I would look to the difference in plate loads on tweed deluxe and black face deluxe Fender amps as evidence. Granted, they are totally different circuits... So, there's that. But that may be the extend of the mojo.
Its not worth it, if you increase too much you will blow up your tubes. As for the 12V circuits it wont change because its a switch mode power supply, you can supply it with 100V 200V or 250V it will output 12V
Tonewood is a real thing and the difference in frequencies can be measured, but in a full band mix, the differences in tone are negligible at best. For me, fretboard wood is important because of feel (I prefer the feel of rosewood to maple and ebony) and I look for lighter weight woods for the body so my shoulder isn’t dead halfway through a set. Beyond that I don’t care as in a live mix nobody is gonna notice the difference.
I have watched all of this as a singer all my life (yes we are arrogant assholes LOL) and I learned long ago from some real pro's that there are no short cuts for true dedication and focus on skills not ego.
This is so accurate... Funny as hell as well. The "Snake Oil" comment is so on point especially when you get those "play guitar tutorial" advertisements in the middle of so many RU-vid guitar videos. Keep them coming Glenn this stuff's brilliant!
I haven't bought a new guitar in almost 25 years, though I'm seriously thinking of getting a strat type guitar. My two electric guitars which I have now are pretty much made for metal and don't have great clean sounds. So that's all I have. Two electric, one acoustic and one classical guitar. Kept me happy for 30 years. It's hard to regret selling anything when you don't actually sell anything and are happy with the purchases you made. The one small regret I have is that I traded in a very nice white USA made Charvel to get my ESP. In hindsight, I should have kept the Charvel and saved a little more for the ESP, but it's only a small regret. No biggie.
Variac explained: speakers sound different when playing the same sound at different volumes. If you're pushing an amp harder but at a lower volume to hear the break up... It would sound different with the same power at low volume. Maybe that's the hearable difference that so many describe? Wouldn't measuring a song on volume 4 sound different on volume 7 and also more different at 10 to our ears but measure the same but louder? Wouldn't an open room mic recording each of these also sound different and not just louder when factoring the speaker and room sound?
This video makes me feel mature. I used to be like every point made, however always being broke helped me keep some things in check. I hit a point years ago where I realised if the wood is good (reliable in different conditions) everything else can be changed to make it better. My main gigger is an old strat copy that’s been modified and maintained over the years, the neck looks like some kind of maple and I have no clue what the body is, but it’s always played nicely and been reliable. Fun bit too, the guitar I’ve had the most “tone” compliments from other guitarists is a 1980’s budget strat copy with a plywood body!
I'm guilty of excalibur syndrome. Well, kind of... My excalibur is my 90's les Paul studio. Everytime when I take it from the case playing feels like returning home. She sounds exactly like she should and everything plays so easly. My theory is that after playing her to the point where she needs refret i'm so used to her quirks and features that every other guitar feels for me a little off. I'm so used to the feel of her setup, neck and laquer that even my friend's les Paul (the same model only two years younger) seems different.
As a guitar player who likes playing for personal pleasure and to learn music that I can't play very well as a personal challenge since I was 8 yo , I've never had enough money to buy expensive gear, so brands like Ibanez, Epiphone, Squire, etc. were what I bought. I did get my grandson a 1959 re-issue Fender Stratocaster made in America in 2013 for his 13th birthday. He plays better than me (and learned Johnny B. Good while watching Chuck Berry on TV when he was like 6 years old in just a minute or two, as an example and he's been playing consistently since he was 3 years old). Neither of us play for the enjoyment of others as a rule but because we love playing guitar, if someone else likes it... wow a plus!. The Strat I bought for Michael is considered well put together by reviewers and one of the last runs of very well manufactured Fender American made guitars... and Strats are easy to play, meaning fingers don't get tied in knots on the fretboard, there's room to flail and the Strat is comfortable to hold while standing up. It would be nice to have a bunch of disposable income to buy the latest trend or the hottest vintage gear, Though I would use the money for other things, like guitar/singing lessons, lol.
8:23 - Why yes, I do buy keyboards (build them in my case) based on the way they feel. I like the key actuation to be slightly heavier than the null weight of my finger with a response click at the actuation point. If feel didn't matter, everyone would probably rock scalloped guitar necks.
